The present invention relates to a method for reducing manufacturing costs and increasing the power density of Stirling Cycle machines (Stirling engines). More particularly, it relates to a method for sharing of heat exchangers among a plurality of Stirling Cycle machines.
Stirling engines differ from internal combustion engines in that they are driven by heat that is generated outside of the cylinder rather than inside. Since the heat is generated outside of the cylinder and is then transferred to the working gas through a heat exchanger, it may be generated by burning any of a wide variety of fuels or from the sun or any other heat source.
The Stirling engine performs a closed thermodynamic cycle, exchanging the working fluid between an expansion space and a separate compression space under substantially constant volume conditions, and transacting mechanical work with the working fluid as its volume increases or expands in the expansion space and decreases or contracts in the compression space.